Bourbon Street Shooting Injures 9 People

Nine people were injured in a shooting on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Sunday morning. No deaths were reported, seven of whom are listed as stable. Police have yet to release information on either motive or suspect, although reports have emerged of an angry man shouting as he emptied his gun into the crowd.

The shooting on the New Orleans stretch famous for its parties and revelry took place around 2:45 a.m., near the French Quarter's Jackson Square and Preservation Hall, a famous jazz club. Eyewitnesses say the suspected gunman appeared to shoot one man intentionally before firing at random into the crowd. "Just turned around and he started shooting at the crowd," one man told local station WWLTV. "He seemed pissed off at some dude, pulled the gun out and started shooting at the guy then turned around on the crowd and started shooting at us."

Of the nine reported injured, seven are listed as being in stable condition at a local hospital. One woman is in critical condition, and another victim was sent into surgery. Although Bourbon Street is normally crowded at night, with tourists and other partiers often filling the streets once the stretch's many bars reach full capacity, it isn't normally known for deadly violence. Still, this is the third reported major shooting there in as many years. "Our No. 1 priority is to keep New Orleans safe. These kinds of incidents will not go unanswered," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a statement.

NOPD [New Orleans Police Department] was in the immediate vicinity at the time of the incident, and I am confident that between video evidence and eyewitness accounts, we will bring the perpetrators to justice. Our crime fighting efforts have brought murders in the city of New Orleans to a historic nearly 30-year low. But on days like today, the statistics don't matter because every life is precious — from the 9th Ward to the French Quarter. We will not rest until every corner of this city is safe.

New Orleans Police Department officials have not commented either on the investigation or on the apparent lack of officers in the area at the time of the shooting.